At this point it’s pretty clear that pesticides are endocrine disruptors. They don’t belong in our fertility boosting foods or any other foods for that matter. I could cite a list of studies to validate that statement, such as the Danish research in the 1990’s which showed that sperm counts were declining at such a high rate, there would be little sperm left in 50 years. Or a follow up study that showed young, college aged men with sperm counts that should call for an urgent visit to a fertility specialist. Or a study on the way toxic chemicals interfere with transport, metabolism and elimination of hormones in our bodies.

But rather than a list of studies, I thought it would be a lot more fun to share a list of our favorite eateries that serve clean, pesticide free food. With all the evidence of the health and fertility damaging effects of pesticide-laden food the number of restaurants serving reliably clean food is still pitifully small.

Sadly even juice bars and restaurants promoting their “healthy,natural menu ” are using ingredients that are not nearly as healthy as we are led to believe.

If you have a favorite spot in your town or neighborhood why not give them a shout out and I bet many of the proprietors might even let you share a recipe. And we could have an end of summer Fertile Heart Viirtual Pot Luck!

We are immensely blessed here in Woodstock and the environs to be graced with a number of reliably clean-food eateries and I hope to share recipes from several of them.

In preparation for this post I approached Pam Brown the owner chef of the fabulous Garden Café on the Green here in Woodstock and she graciously handed me a booklet with a long list of mouthwatering recipes.

I chose Pam’s Tempeh Salad with Walnut Dressing since just about every single ingredients in it (except one, see my note in the recipe) is a perfect fertility food.

Let me know what you think about the Tempeh Salad and I can’t wait for my virtual visit to your kitchen and a taste of your special flavorfully fertile stork tempting dish. And would you post a picture of your creation?

For those of you who will be joining or re-joining one of our fertility support teleconferences in September this can also be a fun way for us to get to know each other and to keep in touch in the next few weeks.

So let’s get out our spatulas, hum a tune that makes our bodies move, ovaries come alive and mouths water!

Tempeh Salad with Walnut Dressing

This wonderful Pam Brown recipe is chockfull of fertility friendly ingredients. Tempeh, a fermented soy product is a great source of protein, it helps boost estrogen and as such is perfect for anyone with high FSH issues or any other estrogen deficiency related challenge. Walnuts of course are great sources of Omega 3 essential fatty acids , which are one of the key fertility boosting and hormone balancing nutrients for both women and men. Garlic is a terrific antifungal food, olive oil adds healthy fat, another important fertility food to this delicious dish. And it’s gluten free for those of you who are letting go of gluten. So eat up and know that you’re moving closer to the baby with each bite.

Pam’s dressing recipe calls for 2 cups of basil leaves but basil leaves in herbal literature are linked to fertility difficulties so I made the walnut dressing without it ad it was delicious. You could also experiment with adding a cup of cilantro to the dressing.

In a medium bowl whisk the above ingredients together. Add the tempeh cubes and toss well to coat. Spray or simply lightly coat a small baking pan or dish with the oil and spread the tempeh in an even layer. Roast about 20 minutes or until the tempeh is brown and crispy, stirring frequently.

Preparing the Walnut Dressing

In a food processor or Vitamix pulse the walnuts until coarsely ground. Add the garlic and olive oil and pulse again. Scrape down the sides of the food processor and add the lemon juice, slat and pepper. Pulse again to mix.

Mix the red onion, cherry tomartoes and tempeh together. Top off with the walnut dressing and stir well. I served it over quinoa. Pam also suggests stuffing it into a pita pocket, or simply eating it as a salad by itself.

A recipe I love to make is this one http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3228/chilli-con-carne
I usually substitute the meat for finely chopped mushrooms. I also double the quantities of beans and pepper. My husband, who is a meat lover, actually prefers the veggie version! Looking forward to trying some of the other recipes!

In an electric mixer, combine coconut oil, peanut butter, and honey. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat on high speed for a few minutes.
In a separate bowl combine, oats, coconut, flax, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix.
Slowly add in dry mixture to peanut butter mixture, mixing slowly. Stir in chocolate chips and almonds.

Drop by the spoonful onto parchment, and then smash down with a spoon
(these don’t spread while baking)

Bake for 8 minutes.

Now as tempted as you will to eat these straight out of the oven……don’t do it! They LOOK like a cookie. They SMELL like a cookie. But they aren’t a cookie, and need to cool first, I promise.
ENJOY!
xoxox Kristen

There is a new restaurant in Lansing, MI called the Fork in the Road. The menu is designed around local, farm-fresh ingredients and it’s really good! Many of our local farmers may not be”certified-organic” but they are focused on growing healthy, pesticide-free foods. Plus, locally-grown supports the local economy and means a huge savings in fossil fuels from shipping.

Process dates in food processor until they are finely chopped and place in a bowl. Finely chop the nuts in the food processor and add them to the bowl with the dates. Add cocoa, vanilla, and cinnamon and mix well with your hands. Form mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls. Makes about 10 balls.

I am not much of a cook (I’m working on it!) so I will share something quite simple that really works for me:

Banana Date Shake

6-8 oz Organic Unsweetened Almond Milk
1-2 dates, pitted and cut into small pieces (organic if possible)
1/2 cup organic Chia seeds
1/2 cup organic blueberries
1 ripe organic banana (I like it quite ripe, you can decide how you want it)
1/2 cup Organic shredded coconut
——
Take all ingredients and put into a blender. Pour into a cup and drink with an extra large straw so you can really enjoy the chunks of dates! I love this for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. If you want it thicker, put a little less milk.

Clean up is easy for me because I use a small, one serving blender so it’s not a big ordeal.

Well not sure if this is considered healthy,but here’s what I do:
I get avocado, mash it along with few streaks of garlic and a pinch of salt. I make bread (Indian bread known as roti/chapathi) made of whole wheat and usually eat the about mix with 2 rotis. I simply love this. Its simple and I feel so good and healthy eating this.
Other things that I do are making bean salad using
1 cup black bean
1 cup red beans
1/2 onion
1 tomato
1/2 corn
In vinegar, I add mashed garlic and 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add little salt and and all above and leave it for 1hr or so and eat it directly or with again roti.

I have so many favorite recipes I don’t know which one to choose! The easiest one is a refreshing quinoa salad:
1 cup of quinoa cooked in 2 cups of water
2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 cucumbers, cut into matchsticks
1/2 cup freshly juiced lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

This is a recipe that I have found is quick and easy to make and very healthy. It avoids dairy and gluten and also abides by the FODMAP principles which help people with IBS (of which I am one). And it doesn’t create too much washing up!

What a wonderfully delish, inspiring, and uplifting blog Julia! Thank-you for your tireless Fertile nurturance ;)
As for a shout-out to a wholesome Fertile Eatery, my Mom and I recently discovered Kate’s Vegan Cafe and Juice Bar while exploring Mystic, CT Annual Art Festival last weekend. It was a blessedly beautiful day!
We enjoyed our lunches very much here: http://www.katescafe.net

I am excited to try two posted recipes this weekend! Michelle your zucchini recipe sounds excellent and one I can get my fiance on board with ;) Thank-you for sharing!

I have a dream to open a Raw Juice Bar as part of a yoga studio or within a block of a studio!
I searched my community and none exists, so disappointing!

The only all-organic restaurant I know in DC is Nora (http://www.noras.com/). They claim to be America’s first certified organic restaurant. The food is just incredible, and you can find on their website the list of farmers they work with. The restaurant has a very refined, grown-up feel to it.

I don’t have any recipes from them, but I can share one of my own. Julia recommends to have healthy snacks with us all the time. So I came up with a recipe to roast raw organic cashew nuts:

Preparation:
– preheat the oven at 350
– put the cashews in an oven pan, evenly distributed
– sprinkle a little bit of olive oil over the cashews
– sprinkle salt and red Cayenne pepper over the cashews
– mix everything together until all the cashews have the same red color
– put in oven for 15-18 minutes until the cashews have a nice golden color

I usually mix them with raw organic almonds to soften the taste of the pepper. It is delicious!

This is one of my favorite Denver, local, organic eateries! I don’t have a recipe from this great place but it is every food all of us can make with fresh ingredients, herbs for taste and is inspired by love.

SAME Café’s mission of serving good food for the greater good says it all. Committed to presenting culinary delights to all who walk through the door, it is all about food and community, and not so much about price.
SAME is the 1st nonprofit restaurant in Denver. Its patrons set the price for their mostly local, organic cuisine. If you can give more, please do. If you have a little less, pay what you can. If your pockets are empty, exchange an hour of volunteer work at SAME for one of the café’s mouth-watering meals.

SAME Cafe purchases 90% of ingredients from local, organic farmers. SAME supports the local economy and local food just tastes better! Come in and check the map of CO to locate where our food comes from. Some favorite farms include The Growhaus, Granata Farms, Grant Family Farms, Harvest Mountain Farms, Haystack Mountain, GCK Farms, Monroe Farms, Ela Farms, Ranch Direct Foods, and so many more!

I have to second that I am not familiar with tempeh. I am not sure if the health food store near me would have this item. I will have to try this receipe. I recently made an ethopian casserole type dish with cabbage, potatos,carrots, onions, turmeric, cumin, and salt/pepper was very good! I will say that being in a rural setting trying to find organic or natural food is hard. I would have to travel an hour and half just to get to a hold food store. I do enjoy gardening and getting my produce, which helps. Thanks for the receipe!

After that workshop I truly felt lighter—the experience seemed like an awakening for me or a new chapter enabling me to move forward. I also felt happier. I thought about what Julia said about going back to things you really enjoyed doing when you were younger—one of the things I used to love to do was to go dancing. At Thanksgiving I found myself dancing to the radio and singing and felt really free and happier than I had felt in a long time.